At The New Republic, Libby Copeland reports on a growing population of home funeral guides, who walk families experiencing a death through the process of home funerals. Though unlicensed by the state, these people “guide families in the process of caring for their loved ones immediately after death, before the body is disposed of.” In doing so, Copeland writes, “they are helping the bereaved take back some of the control, respect, and intimacy that they believe has disappeared from the modern approach to death.”